In the following weeks, a uniformed Army Maj. Gen. William Boykin began sharing his Christian supremacist views from church pulpits around the country, declaring that he was “God’s Warrior” and that “America is a Christian nation.” He demeaned the entire Muslim world by stating that his God was bigger than a Muslim warlord’s god and that the Muslim’s god “was an idol.” He received little more than a token slap on the wrist. At the time, Joseph Schmitz, then the Department of Defense inspector general (Schmitz is currently the chief operating officer of Blackwater International), found that Boykin had committed no ethics violations.

Days later, the May 10 edition of The New Yorker featured the Abu Ghraib torture article by Seymour Hersh, who more than three decades earlier had brought us the story of My Lai.

As a late critic of the Vietnam War, in which I lost many high school and academy classmates, I was skeptical and critical of the drum beat for war orchestrated by the Bush administration. When then-Secretary of State Colin Powell again sold his soul in front of the United Nations and the world, the die was cast. I say again because as a major on his second tour in Vietnam, Powell whitewashed reports of the My Lai massacre and attempted to discredit and silence those few, most notably Ron Ridenhour, who had the courage to get the story into Hersh’s hands.

These were some of my thoughts on the day my son had to decide whether or not to accept his appointment to the Air Force Academy. It was a time in my life when fatherhood and truth were confronted with faux nationalism. With tremendous courage and sadness my son declined his appointment and ended his dream—and my dream for him—to attend the Air Force Academy. Though deeply saddened, we were not sorry.

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In what would have been my son’s academy summer encampment, chaplain Watties “suggested” that cadets return to their tents and tell their tent mates they would “burn in hell” if they did not receive Jesus as their savior. At the same time, the academy commandant, Weida, made a habit of including biblical passages in official e-mails and correspondence to subordinates and cadets. He had developed a secret “chant and response” with the cadets: When he yelled “Airpower,” the evangelical cadets in the know would respond “Rock, sir” in reference to the Bible story that Jesus built his house upon a rock.

Coincidentally, at this time and at the invitation of the academy, the Yale Divinity School was observing the pastoral care program for sexual assault victims at the academy. Under the leadership of professor Kristen Leslie, the Yale team issued a stunning report on the divisive and strident evangelical pressures by leadership and staff at the academy.

The response from academy leaders was telling. They at first denied the reports of Watties’ “hell-fire” threats. Under media pressure, they later claimed the violations were committed by a visiting reserve chaplain, when in fact they were by the recent Air Force Chaplain of the Year himself: Watties. In an interview after receiving his Chaplain of the Year award, Watties boasted of baptizing young soldiers in Saddam Hussein’s swimming pool. It is difficult to think of more inflammatory and Crusader-like behavior in an Arab nation.

In response to the Yale report, the academy demanded that chaplain Morton denounce the report she had co-signed. When she refused, she was transferred to East Asia, ultimately resigning from the Air Force in protest. Morton was the only officer who put her oath of office “to support and defend the Constitution” above careerism.

Then-DoD Inspector General Schmitz, noted for his Christian supremacist rhetoric in the book “Blackwater,” sent a team led by evangelical “born again” Lt. Gen. Roger Brady to investigate the academy. Schmitz had recently found no ethics violations in the actions of Gen. Boykin and allowed Boykin’s promotion to senior military officer in charge of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and “extraordinary rendition.” The “Brady Report” found the academy only to have an “insensitivity” problem. Air Force Academy graduate Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida, “silenced” and removed from the major general promotion list, was secretly promoted with back pay the following year at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

Following the release of the “Brady Report,” West Point graduate and Secretary of the Air Force Mike Wynne, ignoring the existing code of ethics, issued another “code of ethics” that allowed evangelical proselytizing. A month later, in an effort to appease the religious right, Wynne issued an even softer “code of ethics.” Amazingly, Wynne’s document is in complete violation of the code of ethics issued in 1997 by Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall prohibiting proselytizing by commanders and other officers.

How can this still be news?...anyway here goes…
“Those that can, do…Those that can’t, re-enlist.”
The military will forever be a repository for those individuals that don’t realize they are just that…
They will be followers until death and they will let some uncaring political hack determine when that shall happen. They can dig their own hole as far as I’m concerned…just leave some of the planet for reclamation by those that do care.

BTW…Don’t impeach Cheney or we’ll end up with VP Jebb Bush or VP Mitt Romney as incumbents in 2008.

Cyrena sorry to disappoint you but I stand by my statement that is sour grapes on the part of the secular left. What really bugs you is the fact that you can’t force your believes on the cadets of the USAFA. In the battle for hearts and minds face it , your side lost, and christian conservative who are true christian are winning and that makes you fighting mad. So in the words of the Eagles song “Get over it”

KISS- keep it simple stupid. These people are told over and over that they are Gods selected people. Whatever they do is right and anyone who does not do and believe as they do is wrong and therefore it is okay with God to destroy them, after all they are inferior and have to be destroyed. This is their mindset. This has played out in history numerous times. These radical right winger evangelical soldiers claim to believe in the sanctity of life-as long as you do it our way and as for respecting others, this is the furthest thing from the truth. If they respected others, they would accept other peoples views on their own spiritual beliefs or non-belief and let it go at that and not force their own views or beliefs onto others. By the very fact these cadets are urged to harass their tent mates to accept Jesus as their saviour smacks of ignorance and arrogance that so often accompanies those whose religious fevers have caused delusions of grandeur.

Having had exposure to a variety of Christian denominations in my past, I have watched most all of them try their one-upmanship as to my God’s better than yours. Pathetic how religion reduces people down to the point of being savages. I even have a family member who gets as extremely irrational and violent as these brainwashed born agains. Whether you agree with them out of the same belief or out of fear of harm to yourself or family and not of burning in hell, as that is hearsay, but to the damage these misguided Christians do unto others who chose their own way to believe or not. Saying you believe that Jesus is your personal saviour out of fear doesn’t work.I believe that Jesus would agree with me.Forcing someone to do it your way really doesn’t make it happen in reality, you just think so but it doesn’t make it fact.

We have only to look into the history of the Salem witchcraft trials,to see what out of control, religious organizations,this time it was the Puritans,can inflict unto others by the lies of others,including the lies and deceptions used by the authorities to convict the innocents and thus keep the insanity alive.We have only to look at the Bush administration to see that the lies are still alive today. It is sad to see that since this country was stolen from the original peoples,by these very same religious groups,that things have not really evolved much since that time. And now they are on another “witch hunt” to destroy everyone else who is not of their beliefs.

I don’t care if these people think they are living in the end of days and are in a headlong race to bring it about faster, I would rather be left out of their madness,because that is what it is. To live as I feel is right for me and my family, not your idea of what you think I should be, was one of the founding ideas this country was built upon. After all I do not force my beliefs unto you and would never even consider it after all thats called respect,something the evangelicals have a lot to learn about.The reason people fled from other countries was from religious persecution and now thanks to a group of misguided leaders(?) we are returning to what people were running from to begin with. Ironic isn’t it?

It has been stated that the return of the crusades are coming shortly.No surprise here.Let’s all advance to the past.

Gee Chris, nice touch at the end where you called David Antoon a “a bloviating hippie who probably just hates the current President” - Well done, name calling is something that always advances an argument. Of course, using that particular set of words marks you as a FOX News viewer, a Bill O’Reilley fan since I believe he says that every day. Well, you know Chris, the point which I’m sure you missed is that the Air Force Academy has been turned into an evangelical outreach. This is wrong. That’s the issue. You shouldn’t have to be a evangelical christian to serve your country and if you’re a atheist or Buddhist or Mormon you shouldn’t have to put up with that crap. It’s not allowed in the Air Force proper and it shouldn’t be allowed in the Academy. See - all done without name calling.

Maybe the Air Force Academy is “different”, but what this guy is really suffering from - and don’t deny we’ve heard it before - is a case of “OMG things just aren’t the way they used to be!!!”

A bit of background - I attended the U.S. Naval Academy over 10 years ago.

First of all pal, the U.S. Air Force Academy didn’t even have a “tradition” when you attended (USAFA enrolled its first class in 1959, and even then at a temporary site). So maybe what’s going on there right now is the “actual” tradition that’s evolved over time.

Second, you’re talking about the laughing stock Academy of all the Academies. I’ll be the first to admit that those poor saps at West Point have it worst - with outdoor formations every day, and the most depressing architecture known to man outside of Rikers Island. However, even the Naval Academy has a 150 year tradition. No air conditioning, no Colorado Springs Skiing. “The USAFA isn’t the place it was when I was there”? You’ve got that right - now, each room has AC, carpeting, a refrigerator and a TV. Cry me a river. No wonder you have a good football team - try convincing a good football player to go to a place known for its “$85,000 education, shoved up your a$$ one nickel at a time.”

As for the whole Christian thing (I’m an atheist, I could care less) - the Naval Academy used to have MANDATORY mass for Midshipmen (back when they had mandatory Saturday class). We used to have a Chaplain make us pray EVERY day at lunch. You know what I did at that time? Not piss and moan about secularism, that’s for sure.

Why don’t you just let you son do what he wanted to do for his country, which is serve? The last thing he needs is your nostalgia in the way, or the stigma of having the dad who can’t keep himself from insulting the institution who made him the man he is today. Kids today need to be reminded about being “warriors” because they’ve been completely coddled. They have to be reminded that sometimes, you have to drop a nuclear weapon on top of 45,000 hapless civilians (which your beloved institution certainly played a role in). That’s why we had Memorial Hall at the Naval Academy - to remind us of all the warriors who went to “war” and gave the ultimate sacrifice for us.

I’m not going to tell you to be ashamed of yourself - but I am going to say that you sound like a bloviating hippie who probably just hates the current President.

Fundamentalist leaders blamed Katrina on the supposedly debauched folks from Louisiana and the recent fires in California on the heathens from Hollywood. Does that mean our continuing debacle in Iraq and our savaged economy on the sociopath Fundamentalists who have been taking over the military? One thing is clear. If Christ were alive today and saying the same things he apparently said back then, Fundamentalists would surely hate him.

If christianity is so great why do these cadets need to be coerced into “believing”?
It’s really something that these christians don’t see anything wrong with using their power to promote their brand of religion.
Shameless christians blind to their own faults, no surprise is it?

This is stupid. For decades liberals have defended the Constitution and resisted the onslaught of the Military Industrial Complex and Christian supremacy, but Scott Ritter and David Antoon get a forum? It has taken both of them decades to see what we have said FOR DECADES, and even now I doubt either of them would consider themselves liberal nor agree that the military needs to be dismantled.

Please stop giving former and current military personnel a forum for their views. They have the rest of the world for that.

America is fast becoming a fanatical religious state in the same way as their “enemy” Iran or so called “friend” Pakistan. All religious nuts should keep their beliefs to themselves and stop bothering sane people with their views from the middle ages. Have we learned so little from history that this is even possible? Have all the scandals involving these evangelical nuts taught us nothing? These phony people are using religion in the same ideological and stupid way as the fascists in Germany did before and during WOII. I don’t believe in Jesus and I am bothered by people who try to force Christianity on me but I can live with that but I am definitely actually scared that these people are at the buttons of the most powerful war machine in the world.

Please Americans, hold true to your great secular constitution and banish these religious nuts to the fringe of society where they belong! As an European I am afraid of these kinds of examples and I am more and more convinced that things are moving in the wrong direction in the US.

So, George W. Bush is putting all the pieces in place for declaration of martial law and ending our American Democracy. 6 years ago, NO president could ever hope to illegally do so—tne non-political military was the guarantee.

You must be an old fart like me…“7 Days in May”, terrific movie.
Ironically, Nixon had a think tank, The Rand Corporation, do a feasibility study on what would be acceptable to the American people in order to suspend the presidential elections: Their conclusions were; civil unrest and the growing threat to the stability of the government based on the civil unrest would be acceptable to the American people as a reason to delay the presidential elections of 1972.
I would suggest we are never safe from a threat to our constitutional form of government .diligence always they will attack when we least expect it or when we are most afraid.

#112244 by driving bear on 11/07 at 9:52 pm

“I am glad the USAFA cadets are more religious. Sounds to me like the secular left has a case of sour grapes.”

Herein lies the disease .the cancer in thinking like this. It is thinking born of ignorance, that has manifested itself so overwhelmingly, just because of the ignorance.

Just these 2 sentences from driving bear show how he hasnt a clue to what religious means. He hasnt a clue to what secular is, and so he doesnt know or understand how secular is neither left or right. He hasnt a clue to what secular even means. And, if he knew what religious meant, than it would mean, (at least from his statement here) that he would welcome a US military institution guided by Islam, Judaism, Mormons, the worshippers of Jehovah, Hinduism, or the African Methodist Episcopals, and all other varieties of Christians. Somehow though, I dont think this is what he has in mind, and obviously didnt read the article, since the concern here is not about religion in its broad meaning, but rather about Christian Supremacists, of the Evangelical variety, and that is not even in the same universe as the Christianity practiced by the Jesus for which it was named.

So heres a lesson in religion DB. Christian comes from the name Jesus Christ. He was a prophet, and the one whos teachings are the tenets of Christianity. Supremacist would not have been in his vocabulary. YOUR brand of it is the epitome of hypocrisy and heresy.

While Im at it, let me break down what secular is for you, since your ignorance clearly shows there as well. Secular is what our democracy is based on. What it means DB, is our political structure of government is a DEMOCRACY, guided by a Constitution. And, that democracy, as embodied in the Constitution, allows for EVERYONE to practice his/her own religion, based on whichever choice of religion that happens to be.

It also allows for anyone to choose NOT to practice a religion.

So, unless you want to live the way the religious extremists do, say for instance those ‘dreaded’ Islamists, who force their women to cover themselves, (at least thats what people like you wanna believe) and live by the laws of whatever religion happens to be in place, and be discriminated against if you choose to practice a different one, (like your heresy or maybe youd like to worship Satan) then you might want to reconsider what secular actually is. Secular allows you to follow your own religion, (nasty though it may be) and not have another one shoved down your throat. Secular means that you will be held accountable only for the laws of the land, those enshrined in the Constitution, and that everyone else is equally accountable to those laws of the land, regardless of their religious preferences.

Thats what secular is Dumbo. It doesnt mean a lack of religion, and it is not anti-religious. It means that the Church and the State, (politics guides the State, not the Church) are to remain separate in a democracy. What you appear to prefer is a Theocracy. So, move to Iran, or Saudi Arabia, or Afghanistan. Here in America, we are a secular democracy. If you dont like our Constitution, you should move somewhere else. Maybe Israel. They don’t even HAVE a Constitution.

So, George W. Bush is putting all the pieces in place for declaration of martial law and ending our American Democracy. 6 years ago, NO president could ever hope to illegally do so—tne non-political military was the guarantee.

So by politicizing the military with right-wing Christian fanatics with NO ethics, and purging the professional talented leaders, it now is loyal to Bush, not the USA.

And, with the establishment and protection of the private, illegal mercenary force, Blackwater, he is ready.

So he lets the election play out, distracting America. At the key point, he’ll start ANOTHER illegal war, this time with Iran, and when Americans exercise their right to assemble for redress of grivances, he’ll call out his new storm-troopers who, in the name of God, will mindlessly slaughter anyone who dares question Mad King George.

A radical politicized military is a critical element to establishing the fascist dictatorship he wants and “needs”.

Even if he should give up power and a rational Democrat succeeds him, he will have left in place a military led by people fully capable of the greatest treason possible, all in the name of God and Jesus.

Ironically, in Fletcher Knebel’s “Seven Days in May”, the attempted coup is led by a 4 star general—of the US Air Force.

If these brainwashed soldiers believe that Jesus is the only real hope for the world, then why are they fighting and killing. Wasn’t it said “thou shall not kill”?
Many Christian churches tell their church members to not fight and destroy your problems, it is far better to tell what is bothering you and let God or Jesus handle it. It is not for man to decide who should be destroyed because they choose to believe differently that your brand of religion. And what if you find out in the end you were wrong, what then?

W.W.J.D.= who would Jesus destroy is the new moniker for this group of radical recruits.

Now, if one links the above article to the bizarre case of the six “missing” nukes that were somehow “mistakenly” transported across the Midwest, one begins to see the outline of a very disturbing picture.

Ultra-rightist, nationalistic, Christians in the USAF with their very own cache of nuclear weapons. Now is that a scary scenario or what?